“Not bad, but not great. Had to get up for the loo a couple of nights ago, and swear down, I felt like a beached whale.”
“When is Richard back?” He asked.
“At the weekend, thank God.”
Rowan returned to her side. “A little blood draw.” Rowan nodded, and she held her left arm out knowing the drill.
Rowan put his gloves on and tied the tourniquet, then told her, “Squeeze your hand into a fist, please.” She did as he instructed, making it easier for him to find a vein. Rowan went through the familiar process quickly, and when he was done, put on a plaster for her.
“Your appetite, how’s that been?”
“Fine, although I did nip out for a cheeky kebab,” Sydney lowered her voice like she was telling him a secret.
“That’s fine, a little kebab never hurt.” He smiled up at her and caught the studying gaze again. Rowan sighed and finally had to ask, “Is there a problem?”
“There’s something different about you.” Her brows furrowed as she looked him up and down. “Well, not different, per se. I think I mentioned it the last time I was here. You seem different. Did you change your hair or something?” Her head tilted to the side like she was trying to crack the code. “I swear you have a glow. If I didn’t know better, I’d swear you were pregnant.”
Rowan’s eyes widened, and he immediately snorted. “Ha, funny. If you mean sweating under these lights and being on my feet half the day, then sure.”
“Mmm, are you seeing someone? Is that it? You’re having crazy good sex, and that’s why you’re glowing?”
Even though he didn’t talk about his sexuality at work—not that he hid it—Sydney knew, and she was very okay with it.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Rowan tried not to smile thinking about Mikhail and what they’d got up to the night before.
“Liar. Tell a pregnant lady details. Let us live vicariously through you.” She wiggled her eyebrows at him.
“Pretty sure that’s what got you in here, so you don’t need my help,” Rowan teased.
“Well, you look good, babe. Whatever you’re doing, keep it up,” she said, smiling at him.
Rowan chuckled. “Alright, that’s us done. The doc should be in soon, but I’ll let her know you’re ready now.”
“Thank you, Rowan.” Sydney smiled at him.
“Check in with us before you leave so we can schedule your next appointment.”
* * *
The rest of his shift,Sydney’s words raced through his brain. He’d been tempted to take a pregnancy test and nip into the bathroom to check, but he’d restrained himself, although the moment his shift ended and Rowan got in his car, he called Alfie and Axel on a joint WhatsApp call.
“Hey Ro,” Alfie smiled once his face appeared.
“What’s up?” Axel asked when he came on.
“Something happened at work today,” Rowan said in lieu of an answer.
“You didn’t lose a patient, did you?” Axel studied him, his brow creased with worry.
“No, no, nothing like that,” he reassured his brothers.
“Okay, so what happened?” Alfie asked.
“I was seeing one of my patients, and she kept staring at me, like proper staring, through the whole appointment.”
“Okay?” He could hear the ‘your point?’ in Axel’s tone.
“When it got, like, weird, I asked her, and she was, like, ‘You’re glowing.’”
